All questions tagged Career Advising - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

Hi Anonymous,

first of all, congratulations on your offer! If you want to prepare in advance before you start, I would recommend working on technical, communication and stress management skills.

• On the technical side, Excel will be the most important technical thing to master at the beginning, in particular for VLOOKUPs and Pivot tables; you could also review PowerPoint, which you will also use quite a lot.
  • At BCG we got learning courses we could use to improve on them, and I guess you will receive the same at McKinsey, but so far that you have already mastered the skills before joining (you can find several courses online for both), even better.
  • Tip for Excel: learn how to use as much as possible the keyword and relegate the touchpad to the minimum – this will skyrocket your productivity in the long term. Some computer programs such as KeyRocket provide tips to improve on this.
• For what concerns communication, I would recommend the classic book on the topic: “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie.
• For stress management, I would recommend two books:
  • “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod – great tips to start in the right way your day
  • “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David Schwartz – a great sum up of some of the best tips be positive, productive and achieve more

Below you can also find a list of things that could be useful to practice during your first weeks:

1. Take notes when your manager tells you something – this will help you to remember details and will show you care about them to the team.
2. Always double check. The first impression is very important in consulting: if you show you are reliable from the beginning, you create a reputation of a reliable person. Double checks should be done on expectations for your job, your excel analysis, your slides – basically everything.
3. Define priorities before starting any set of tasks. The majority of the results usually come from a subset of activities – this is true also for your tasks in consulting. You have to identify which they are and prioritize them – the application of the so-called 80-20 rule or Pareto Principle.
4. Socialize with your colleagues and start to build a network. Consulting is a people business and you should build a good network both within and outside the company. A good start is key to develop good relationships long-term
5. Organize your private life activities. You want to organize your calendar to leave some space for personal activities (sport/ friends/ family). This is not easy but can be managed if you organize well, and long-term will be critical to keep a balance between work and private life. Also, it is better to align with your manager/teammates from the beginning on your core needs, so that there are no surprises later on.
6. Ask for feedback every two-three weeks – this will show you are proactive and willing to learn.
7. Ask for help when you don't know what to do – better to let know you are in trouble with meeting a deadline then missing the deadline.
8. Be social and respectful with the support staff – these people are great and influential as well in the company.

In terms of clothes, I would be sure to have business attire available for at least one week.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi Anonymous,

big brands are indeed useful to stand out in the application phase, however there are some ways to compensate for their absence:

1. Ask to an experienced friend/current consultant/ expert to review your CV/Cover. There may be improvements that can help you to stand out
2. Find a referral for your application. This is the single most powerful thing you can do to get an invitation. You can find some tips here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176

Hope this helps,
Francesco

Hi Hrag,

an established consulting brand makes definitely easier to join a top MBA; moreover, in many countries, MBB and other top brands can sponsor MBAs to top performers, while boutique consulting companies normally don’t do so. Having said that, it is possible to join a top MBA even coming from a boutique. The likelihood of such transition depends on the brand of the boutique – you should be able to get an idea looking at the alumni of the company on LinkedIn and considering how many proceed their career with an MBA.

Best,

Francesco

Hi,

Agree with Guennael - you can try applying to other countries as well. Also, I know some people working in Germany in consulting even without the local language (even MBB).

Best!

Hi Anonymous,

Research Analyst and Associate are actually two very different positions at McKinsey for several reasons:

1. Tasks. The Research Analyst position is a back office role where you (i) do not have much client interaction; (ii) work with multiple teams at the same time; (iii) focus in research on specific topics (in this case: O&G). The Business Analyst is a position where you (i) have direct contact with the client; (ii) work in a single team per project; (iii) cover different sectors till when you specialize (usually at Engagement Manager level).
2. Seniority. Research Analyst is an entry-level position, equivalent to the Business Analyst one in the consulting path at McK. Associate is the post-MBA position at McK (which therefore requires 2 years as business analyst plus an MBA)
3. Career path. The two roles have different career path. As a Research Analyst you will naturally grow to Senior Research Analyst and then to Knowledge Expert. As Business Analyst you will move to Associate, Engagement Manger, Principle and Partner.

To my knowledge, the interview process is similar to the one for the Business Analyst position, although with more market sizing related questions; you may also get technical questions to test your knowledge on the specific sector you will focus on.

It is possible but not common to move from the research career path to the consulting one. It is unlikely you will move from Research Analyst to Associate though, far more likely you will start back as Business Analyst (maybe with one year seniority). Alternatively, you would have to wait to become Senior Research Analyst and then target to move to Associate.

Best,

Francesco

Hey Matt,

I've already answered you privately to this question, but would like to leave my answer here because it might benefit other people in similar situations:

• As Juan Pablo already refferred, getting into MBBs are difficult for everyone at all, even people coming from Harvard or Stanford, just because competition is huge and the number of available spots are quite reduced
• That said, your background is not an handicap at all as far as you're able to clearly demonstrate why you want to move, as consulting firms (especially MBBs and even more especially McKinsey) do love background diversity, so as far as you're able to show business accumen and perform well in the dimension the firms test for you would get an offer (they can't care less about your previous background!) - as an example, the majority of the ex-physicians in my MBA cohort transitioned to Consulting; as another example, I just coached 2 ex-physician at LBS who got an MBB offer, and let me tell you that both of them performed much better than many people with a business background
• Finally, for me the biggest issue with your case is that you don't come from a target University for virtually any MBB, which makes much complicated to get an interview in the first place. So, my reccommendation is for you to network as much as possible in order to try to secure as a referral. E.g., search on LinkedIn for people with a very similar profile as yours in your target companies

Btw, I don't think it's going to be any easier for you to get into a tier 2 consulting firm, as they tend to value much more a traditional background. The biggest alternative might be boutique companies specialized on healthcare or life science topics!

Best

Bruno

Hi Anonymous,

In general, given your background, the most important thing you should do is proper networking. I wrote below my answers to your questions, and after that some tips on how to do that.

If I want to start from scratch, what consulting firms should I aim for?

I would search on LinkedIn where alumni from your universities are working now in consulting – this will give you an idea of the reasonable targets.

Is it possible to work in a lower tier consulting firm and try to apply for MBB after few years?

Definitely possible, it happens pretty often. Turnover in MBB is pretty high (average in many countries is 3 years), thus they continuously look for new hire, and former consultants are always a good subset where to look for (the brand of the lower tier consulting firm is obviously important for the screening).

Or should I start my career in other industries instead, and come back after few years?

If you want to do consulting, I would start now. Alternatives may be strong corporate brand in strategy role, but only if the corporate brand would be a lot stronger than the lower tier consulting firm one.

As for what you should do for networking, I would recommend the following:

1. Identify who are the people who could more easily help you. Alumni of your current university on LinkedIn should be the first targets

2. Write them a customized cold email

3. Have a call with the consultant, and indirectly ask for a referral

Of course, each step should be structured in a proper way to maximize the chances of moving to the next step. I have used this method when I applied for consulting, and I believe this is the main reason why I got invitations for all the applications I did (McK, Bain, BCG, Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger, Booz&Co - now Strategy&): I never applied through the website, as I always had a person referring me.

Finally, so far that you find alumni of your current university in MBB, it could be possible for you to be invited there as well with appropriate networking, thus I would try that for them as well.

Best,

Francesco

Hi Joshua,

I would try to follow the steps below:

1. Increase strategy roles in your CV – ideally with no profit activities or free advisory for startups. If you have already sufficient strategy/consulting elements in your CV you can skip this step.
2. Practice on case and fit questions – at the following links you can find some tips on how to get started for case interviews:
   • Chronological steps to follow: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/where-shall-i-start-for-the-case-interview-808
   • Areas to prepare: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-would-you-prepare-for-a-full-time-position-for-bgc-724
   • Material to use for preparation: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mck-first-round-interview-340
3. Network with current consultants in order to receive a referral

If you manage to receive an offer, you will likely join as an Analyst (McK) or Associate (BCG) with 1-1.5 years of experience in the firm. If the previous steps do not work, it could be useful to apply for an MBA and try again after that, targeting an Associate (McK) or Consultant (BCG) position.

As for Chartership, I don’t think it could have a relevant impact on the application.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi,

1) If you mean resume screening - very high. Then you have to prep to pass an interview

2) MBA if you want it - the earlier the better. The problem is that Post MBA positions are pretty much the same and don't depend on your extra experience. You'll also get a scholarship in top MBAs covering 40-60% of tutition

However, if you need MBA financing from a consulting company - you should work there for a couple of years first.

My recommendation is to do MBA first and join consulting as an Associate (Consultant)

3. General firms. If you are passionate about technical staff - join Digital or Venture branches of BIG3 firms

4. 740 - definitely include

Good luck!